WoW is an MMO. MMOs can't really survive without monthly fees (or, item malls, which seem more expensive than monthly fees, too [lolol suckers]). And since D3 isn't an MMO, we don't have anything to worry about.

If BattleNet charged for playing, I'd drop WoW altogether since I wouldn't split time paying for two online games at once. As it stands I'd feel comfortable playing both games still, as they'd be much different experiences for me. WoW's the slower paced RPG game where I can have fun in battlegrounds and get some cool PvP gear, DIII would be my real-time action RPG game, heavy on the action and fast-paced with a lot less emphasis on a huge community. In WoW, I prefer staying on my own anyway (I rarely ever run instances, I prefer soloing so I can pay attention to other things like watching TV and moving at my own pace), and in Diablo II I could always create a private game for me to solo in and do well on my own, and team up with others for experience grinding and boss battles.

Ask again when Starcraft II gets a release date. It was announced back in May 2007. Since then, it has appeared in 2 Blizzard WWI's, 1 BlizzCon and 2 press releases in Asia. Still no release date, not even for Beta.

[size=1][color=#666666]This message was edited by AznLiquid on Jul 03 2008.

-------------------"Train by day Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day."

I desperately hope they change the gameplay enough for me to not constantly have to click. I'm hoping the 5 or so hotkeys for magic moves will help in that department. I have pretty much lost the ability to play DII due to it hurting my wrist when I play for more than an hour, and I don't have this problem with any other of my PC games. A hotkey for regular attacks to go along with several magic attacks would be ideal for me, as I have no problem spamming a button on my keyboard for attacking as compared to having to click the left-mouse button constantly.

For a class such as a paladin, a class I love playing as, clicking often in DII was necessary as I was a melee fighter (well, I did have one old build that I used a bow for, haha).

Ah... the old Diablo's cramp, never had it personally, but then, I've managed to do Act I of D2 in about 6/7 hours straight, with no side affects, though I do sit in front of computer all day.And has anyone thought of the poor old mouse? It's not going to do it any good: 'Death by Diablo'. I've have worn out a mouse, (it wouldn't click properly) but Diablo wasn't completely to blame.

They can add all the RPG features they like, but in my eyes it'll still be an action game. If they try to boost up the RPG elements at the cost of putting the action into the shadows the I'll be severely disappointed.

When I think of action games I picture stuff like Devil May Cry and Metal Gear and similar games. Diablo's always been a minimalist RPG in my mind, which is why I love it so much. It's not so much the tactical or in-depth kind of game that say....Final Fantasy is (though it certainly can be). It's still role playing in my eyes (though technically, every game could be considered 'role playing' on some level, going by generic definition).

And Bowadins are actually not half bad. Get your self a Widowmaker for the explosive and guided arrows and you can pretty much pick off opponents from a screen or two away, and with some aura stacking, do some nice killing.

And for the sake of telling a story, I went to pick up a new acoustic guitar today. Some metal-head there was wearing a Blizzard shirt, and when I was in the acoustic section of the store his little front went apeshit when I started playing the Tristram theme on a twelve string. I thought it was funny, and slightly nerdy. Then again, I knew how to play it to begin with, so you've got me there.

Found some comments Bashiok (Blizzard-Diablo 3 Forum guy) made about questions that fans had been asking, thought I'd share them with everyone.

quote Diablofans.com

Diablo III Community Manager Bashiok offered a slight comment on Talent Tree respec possibilities in Diablo III, health globes functionality, and Loot mechanics. There aren't plans for a Tank and Healer Classes according to Bashiok. Although Talent Respec won't be as flexible as in World of Warcraft, it may offer an alternative. How this will be implemented, is still unknown. It may change throughout development cycles. Regardless, it sounds like a good idea.

Talent Respec

quote Bashiok

There will almost definitely be some sort of system to respec; however, it isn't likely to be as liberal as World of Warcraft. We don't want to lock a player into a system that punishes them for mistakes, experimenting, or lack of knowledge early on in the game. We also don't think a system that allows immediate, complete, and at-a-whim changes to a character spec matches the feel of Diablo. It's likely to be somewhere in between.

That said we still feel like the desire to play the same class again that you may have played before is still a part of the game, and with some ability to respec could potentially require other incentives.

Health Globes

quote Bashiok

The health globes are actually, in my opinion, really cool. Playing the game and actually seeing what types of strategy they encourage, you can start to see what they add and how they make the combat more interesting.

I'll set the scene. You're a barbarian, you're in the wilderness and after fighting wave after wave of ghouls, skeletons, demons, what have you, you're low on health. You're out of potions, and after using a strategic leap out of the fray you turn around and seismic slam the skeletons charging you. Two of them drop health globes, but the globes dropped behind the skeletons that are still advancing. If they reach you, you're not going to survive. Are you able to leap safely to snag the globes before they can tear into you? Can you throw out another slam and try to remove the remaining enemies? How can you survive? You have a fraction of a second to decide.

The health globes help to create situations just like this, where you're not just sitting there spamming potions, you're using your abilities and strategy to stay alive. Possibly most importantly, you're encouraged to keep fighting, and not just run away.

With random spawns, random drops, and of course the randomness of combat, the health globes add to creating situations that are just more... interesting, and in my opinion, fun.

On the side of potions, they still exist, but they're likely to be on a cooldown of some type. They'll also likely restore health based on a percentage that's relative to your character. They may heal an instant amount, they may be the old over time type system. They're probably going to be filling an emergency-heal role more than anything though.

No Tank and Healer Classes?

quote Fan Said:

They have literally said Diablo 3 will be "first and foremost a cooperative game". Which leads me to believe it's possible they add a talent tree for dedicated healers to one or several classes.

quote Bashiok

No. Not that classes won't benefit from each other in various ways, Barbarian shouts being good party buffs, etc. but every class is essentially a demon-killing DPS class. We have no intentions to create a tank, or healer, etc. Every class will play their own way, and while some may take direct hits easier than others, it certainly wouldn't define their role within a party. Everyone should be kicking in heads at the same time.

Diablo III having a strong emphasis on cooperative play is really building upon one of the best parts of Diablo II, and that's charging through dungeons with other people. Our focus is on removing the frustrations that existed with grouping, and adding new features that encourage everyone to stick together and fight as a party.

Random Loot Mechanic

quote Bashiok

Currently - while in a party each player will see their own drops from each kill.

This could mean that after killing a zombie I see a sword drop, and you may see a shoulder slot item drop. Or I see nothing drop, while you got an axe.

Obviously while in a group you're killing faster, and this could translate to an exponentially increasing number of drops with each additional player in your party. However, it's balanced in such a way that the drop % is pulled back a bit with each additional player (I'm simplifying it, but that's what it boils down to). This keeps it from being almost detrimental to not play with a full party, while still giving a nice increase to the amount of drops if you do.

From this system it seems quite a few people got the impression that you'll never see items drop that you can't use. For instance, a Barbarian will never see a dagger that only a Witch Doctor can use. This isn't true. There is no effect, or at least no currently intended effect, to restrict which items which classes can or can't see for their respective drops. It's still intended that you could see an item that your class can't use. It's easy enough to drop the item, ask if anyone can use it, or just sell it off of course.

It's not surprising there will be no set tank or healer class, as DII didn't have any either, and this is too fast-paced of a game to be having such classes. I added your post as a link in the info post